<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>burdens (it’s okay to rely on me) by lovehyunjin</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24915574">burdens (it’s okay to rely on me)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovehyunjin/pseuds/lovehyunjin'>lovehyunjin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Boys Republic (Band), H&amp;D (Korea Band), HOTSHOT (Band), IM (Band), MYNAME (Band), ONEWE (Band), The Unit: Idol Rebooting Project (TV), U-KISS, UNB (Band), X1 (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Lee Hangyul-centric, Pain, Protective Hyungs, caring hyungs, everyone calls hangyul baby, its cute</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:26:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,974</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24915574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovehyunjin/pseuds/lovehyunjin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>in which hangyul gets injured on the unit. tears and lots of comforting ensues.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Hangyul &amp; Everyone, Lee Hangyul/Everyone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>burdens (it’s okay to rely on me)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this takes places during the unit and mostly is centered around the ‘all day’ team although there are brief mentions of people from other teams. </p><p>i wrote this a long time ago but i wanted to post something since i haven’t in like more than a year, so i apologize for that because tbh i’m not really proud of this</p><p>instagram &amp; twitter: starshyunjins</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>hangyul is at practice with the other members, preparing for the performance for ‘all day’. so far, the practice had gone pretty well because even though they were all tired, it wasn’t difficult to collaborate and they were able to learn the dance easily. he’s practicing the dance with all of the other members when all of a sudden, he slips— his ankle twisting in the process— and he ends up falling onto the floor. pain sears through his foot as he instinctively lays on the ground, clutching the injured foot in his arms as he cries out in pain. </p><p>“hangyul!! are you okay?” he hears and sees everyone running towards him. </p><p>“i-it hurts” he cries, wanting someone to help take the pain away from him. the members are crowded around him, trying to assess his injury and comfort him and someone is notifying the staff and calling the ambulance. he sees chan spraying something onto his ankle, but he doesn’t pay attention to anything besides the pain exploding in his ankle. </p><p>“hangyul, baby, calm down. i think your ankle is sprained and the ambulance is going to be here soon” jun says as he wraps the injured ankle.</p><p>“i-i’m okay. i-i don’t need an ambulance. i don’t need to go to the hospital. please” hangyul protests.</p><p>“this isn’t negotiable. you’re obviously hurt and we need to make sure it’s just a sprain, so you don’t further injure yourself” hojung replies, in a slightly scolding tone. </p><p>“but i-i don’t wanna go to the hospital. please, hyung” and a tear makes its way down hangyul’s cheek. </p><p>“baby, hey what’s wrong? why are you crying over going to the hospital?” hojung asks, wrapping his arms around hangyul.</p><p>“i’m… ugh it’s stupid, sorry” he wipes the tears from his eyes which ends up being ineffective because more tears form in his eyes, replacing the wiped away ones. </p><p>“baby, come on, you can tell us anything” hansol says.</p><p>“even if it’s stupid, you can tell us and we won’t judge or criticize you” chan adds.</p><p>“fine i will tell you guys… um it’s just that, i… i’m kind of scared of doctors and hospitals and i really don’t want to go” hangyul admits, scared to hear the other members’ reactions.</p><p>“it’s okay to be scared, baby” hojung reassures, tightening his arms around hangyul, “but you still need to go to the hospital, i’m sorry but i don’t want your ankle to get seriously injured if you keep practicing on it. hyung can come with you though, would that be better?” </p><p>“fine, i will go as long as hyungie comes with me”</p><p>“of course i will, baby. come on, let’s go, i think the ambulance is already here” hojung stands up, carrying hangyul in his arms as they walk out of the practice room. </p><p>and then hangyul’s being carried away from the practice room and being departed onto a stretcher. “hyung, is your ankle injured again?” (he’d gotten injured a few months ago when he was practicing with i.m and long story short, it had hurt like hell and he hated being banned from dancing for what felt like so long) kijung asks and hangyul nods because no matter how much he doesn’t want to worry his dongsaeng, he can’t exactly lie when he’s sitting on a stretcher about to go to the emergency room.</p><p>“hangyul! what happened? are you okay?” suwoong asks, running up to him upon hearing that an ambulance had came because someone got hurt.</p><p>“i’m fine, i just tripped and hurt my ankle at practice” the injured dancer explains, hoping that everyone doesn’t start freaking out and worrying about him (because he already has enough hyungs and dongsaengs worried about him and on his case about being careful so he doesn’t accidentally trip and roll his ankle again).</p><p>“are you sure you’re okay? your ankle probably hurts like hell right now” jun says, the memory of being injured for my turn reappearing in his mind (it was a bad memory to say the least and he hated being injured during the actual performance, especially because he was center and could barely dance during it). </p><p>“i’m okay, hyungs, don’t worry about me” hangyul repeats, even if it might be a lie. his ankle does hurt really badly but it’s not like he wants everyone to worry by telling them the truth. </p><p>but before anyone can tell him that they’re already worried, hojung interrupts them “hey sorry for interrupting but i need to take this baby to the hospital and make sure his injury isn’t too serious”.</p><p>“but hyung…” hangyul whines.</p><p>“hangyul, we talked about this already. i know you’re scared but i will be with you the entire time, okay?” </p><p>“fine hyung” he pouts before being pushed on the stretcher towards the exit. he hears many people yelling “bye!” and “see you later!” and “feel better!” as the doors close behind him and he’s being pushed into the ambulance. (they may have worked out some deals with the management and ambulance for them to agree for hojung to come with hangyul.)</p><p>it’s hangyul’s first time in an ambulance. back in his childhood, he’d never gotten sick enough to need to go to the hospital and every injury he had gotten only required at most a trip to the doctor, not an entire ambulance ride into the emergency room. and for his first time, he already decides that he hates it. he’s conscious the entire ride and the pain doesn’t hurt too badly— it definitely hurts but at least he’s not dying of pain. he feels like he’s making everyone worry for something that’s not even a big deal and he hates it. laying in the stretcher makes him feel too vulnerable and reliant, like he’s about to die in any second, but he’s really not. and hangyul just wants to cry not because the pain is too unbearable but because he knows he caused way too much unnecessary stress and he knows that when he eventually comes back from the hospital, he won’t be allowed to dance which means he will be holding back his team. and he can’t afford to sit out of dance practice, not when they have so little time to learn and perfect their performances and not when all of their futures are basically on the line. but he knows that he can’t cry because no matter how much he wants to, the stress and worrying will only increase and he can’t rely on everyone even more than he already has. so he suppresses the need to cry and tries to remain stoic because he has the feeling that if hojung hugs or comforts him, it’ll be enough for the tears—that he’s trying so hard to hold back— to fall. </p><p>“hangyul, you doing alright?” hojung asks from his position in the vehicle, reaching out a hand to grab hangyul’s.</p><p>“i-i’m okay” and it takes all his heart to resist the urge to cry.</p><p>“it’s gonna be okay, baby, i promise”.</p><p>thankfully the trip is short and within minutes, they arrive at the hospital. given the fact that they went through the emergency room, hangyul is provided a room to wait in until a doctor comes to assess his injury. and as much as hangyul hates the ambulance, he can’t help but to find the same hatred in the hospital room and his wish to cry only grows.</p><p>“hangyul, is everything okay? are you scared?” hojung asks again because he can tell that hangyul is hiding something and doesn’t want to admit whatever’s on his mind.</p><p>so once again, hangyul does everything he can to not start crying right then and there. “i’m a little scared” he says because at least it’s part of the truth and he isn’t completely lying to his hyung. </p><p>“baby, do you want me to come sit with you?” he asks and when he hears the injured dancer mutter a quiet ‘yes’, he proceeds to walk over and sit next to hangyul, wrapping an arm around the younger’s shoulders. </p><p>and hearing the use of the nickname ‘baby’ combined with the hug finally causes the tears to fall and soon he’s crying into hojung’s shoulder with older quietly comforting him and whispering soft reassurances. </p><p>“what’s wrong baby? you’re okay, there’s no need to cry”. </p><p>“i just don’t want to worry or disappoint everyone because i won’t be able to dance so then i’ll be behind and i don’t want everyone to have to waste their time teaching me everything. and i-i just want to be able to dance!! but it hurts and i hate it!” hangyul finally admits because of the realization that he’s held in his emotions too much and it only ended with him crying to his hyungs.</p><p>“you’re not going to disappoint any of us and it's not your fault you got injured. it’s not a waste of time to teach you anything— we want you to feel confident in every part of the performance and by teaching you, it only benefits the rest of us. like if dongmyeong can’t keep up with us in the dance, then we would teach it to him over and over again and it wouldn’t be a problem. and i know you want to dance and i know it hurts but hopefully the injury isn’t too severe and you can dance and walk on it soon, after a few days of rest. everything will be okay, baby. trust me.”</p><p>“but i just don’t want to worry all of you or hold back the performance”</p><p>“hangyul, baby, you’re our dongsaeng, well besides dongmyeongie. we’re going to worry regardless of whether you injured yourself or not. also, you’re injured and you need to rest, so no one will be disappointed if it takes you longer to learn the dance or you mess up during the performance.”</p><p>and at that point, they hear the knock of the door and the doctor walks into the room, apologizing for walking in on the conversation. hojung explains the situation because he knew that hangyul wouldn’t want to, especially after crying a few minutes ago. </p><p>after hangyul’s ankle is evaluated and x-rayed, the doctor confirms that he had pulled a ligament and wraps the injured foot in a cast, telling him to avoid putting weight on his foot unless necessary until the actual performance. </p><p>afterwards, he returns to the practice room, somewhat scared to see their reactions because he knows they’ll definitely be worried. </p><p>“hyung! are you okay?” dongmyeong immediately asks when they enter the room. </p><p>“i’m alright. i just pulled a ligament, but the doctor said that i could still perform” he explains, hobbling in his crutches to the chair that the other members had set up for him. all of them crowd around him, wanting to know whether the dancer was okay and asking him about how serious the injury was, whether or not he’d be able to practice, and how long he would have to stay off his foot. </p><p>//</p><p>“stop it!! stop taking care of me so much! i’m not a baby” hangyul whines, a pout present on his face and a few tears drop from his eyes as he storms out of the room, ignoring the worried calls and leaving the members full of guilt and confusion. five minutes ago, he’d been happily cuddling with his hyungs as they worried about him and the injury, and now he was yelling that he didn’t want the comfort. they’d thought their dongsaeng would want the affection and comfort especially after his injury. </p><p>“hangyul? baby, what happened?” seyong asks. he had been walking down the hallway to go to his own dorm room when he saw his dongsaeng crying. and being the protective hyung he was, he always got worried when he saw one of his dongsaengs sick, hurt, or in tears. </p><p>and regardless of the fact that seyong doesn’t actually know the reason behind all the tears, he pulls the younger into his arms and hangyul hides his face in seyong’s shoulder. the older murmurs reassurances that everything will be okay, that no matter how long and hard it feels, his injury will eventually heal, and that no one will ever be disappointed in him because he never did anything wrong. and when the tears finally slow down to little sniffles, seyong repeats, “baby, come on, talk to me. what’s wrong?”</p><p>and the only reason he explains without pretending that he’s okay (when he really isn’t) is the fact that whenever he says it, his hyungs only get more worried because they know he’s lying. they know he’s not okay despite how many times he says he is. he only lies for the sole reason that he just can’t afford to have even more people worried about him, no matter the situation. </p><p>“i-i just don’t wanna rely so much on all my hyungies and i feel like i’m being a burden. with the performance coming so soon, i don’t wanna cause even more stress on everyone. and hojung hyung already told me that they wouldn’t be disappointed in me because i can’t practice, but i still feel like i shouldn’t make them take care of me so much” hangyul’s voice drifts off to silence, “and… it’s just i hate relying so much on someone to take care of me because i just … i don’t want them to just … leave me… to abandon me when i need them the most because… because that’s kind of what happened with my parents.” he begins to tear up again at this point, “i’ve never known what actually happened with my birth parents but i just really don’t want anyone to leave me again”. </p><p>“hangyul, no one’s gonna leave you but either way it’s okay to be scared of something like that after what you’ve been through. it’s okay to rely on your hyungs to take care of you. sometimes you just need it and it’s better to have your hyungs comforting you than trying to deal with all the difficulties by yourself.” </p><p>“hangyul, are you okay now? do you want to return to your members so they can help you?” seyong continues.</p><p>“want suwoong hyung” hangyul whines. </p><p>“okay, he’s probably at practice right now so we can see if he’s free to spend some time with you. come on baby, now let me carry you. i know you have your crutches but i don’t want you to somehow hurt yourself again. besides, being carried is more comfortable and easier than trying to walk with crutches.” seyong picks him up and carries him all the way to the ‘no way’ practice room.</p><p>“seyongie hyung! hangyullie! why did you guys come here? … wait is everything alright? hangyul, were you crying earlier?” timoteo asks, noticing the faint glimmer of tears in the dancer’s eyes. </p><p>“the baby wanted some comfort from suwoong— that’s why we’re here. but if you’re too busy, then it’s fine” seyong explains.</p><p>“no, it’s alright. suwoongie, you can go make sure your little dongsaeng is alright” kanto declares. </p><p>“baby, you okay?” suwoong asks softly as he kneels down next to hangyul who is sitting in seyong’s lap. </p><p>“don’t wanna talk about it” hangyul pouts, hiding his face in seyong’s chest.</p><p>“he’s just a little upset about his ankle and everything, but he’s okay” seyong briefly explains because he knows hangyul just doesn’t want to talk about it. </p><p>“it’s alright, just know you can tell me anything” suwoong responds, but he doesn’t press on the matter any further. and eventually hangyul crawls out of seyong’s lap and into suwoong’s, arms wrapping around the older as suwoong pulls him into his embrace. “it’s okay baby, everything’s alright”.</p><p>they cuddle for a while before seyong breaks the silence, “hey, sorry to interrupt your cuddle session but i think we all should get back to practice. hangyul, are you feeling okay now?” </p><p>“i’m okay” hangyul wipes away the last of his tears, “i don’t want my hyungs to get even more worried than they probably already are”. and with that, they share their goodbyes before heading off in separate directions. </p><p>“hyung, what happened? why did you leave earlier?” dongmyeong asks, when the ‘99 liner enters the practice room.</p><p>“i thought i was relying on you guys too much and being a burden” hangyul takes a breath of reassurance and continues, “and i don’t know, i guess it reminded me of my biological parents and i didn’t… i don’t want to be left again”.</p><p>“oh baby, it’s okay, we understand. just know that we’re always here for you. we’re not going to leave you” hansol comforts. </p><p>“it’s okay, hangyul, you’re never going to be a burden to us. there’s nothing wrong with asking for help and being taken care of,” chan says.</p><p>“let’s just go back to the dorm, alright? we’re all exhausted and we’ve had enough practice for the day” hojung announces and they all head out of the practice room.</p><p>“hyung, can you carry me? it’s hard to walk with the crutches” hangyul asks. they’re already a couple minutes away from the practice room but it had taken some time for hangyul to muster up the courage to ask, even if he knew logically that the others wouldn’t judge him for it. </p><p>“of course i’ll carry you” jun (being the nearest person to hangyul) says, picking the younger up—carefully so he didn’t inflict any additional pain on the already injured ankle— and carrying him in his arms.</p><p>and when they finally reach the dorm ten minutes later, jun cautiously sets hangyul down on the bed as the rest of the members lay down their own respective beds. they share a final ‘good night’ and fall asleep due to the constant exhaustion from the long hours of practice they endure.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>